17 ms·

> Google doesn't do what it does to be successful. It does it because it is successful. Those things aren't mutually exclusive and almost certainly are both tr

> Google doesn't do what it does to be successful. It does it because it is successful. Those things aren't mutually exclusive and almost certainly are both true

inopinatus 10y ago
The most pointed quote in the article is “No one wants to face the reality that this is an advertising company with a bunch of hobbies.” But without search, without Gmail, without Chrome, without Android, without the moonshots and all the "hobbies" Google's brand would wither, and its access to data at massive scale would be crippled, and its access to eyeballs would be curtailed, and the talent would walk. Others have built advertising businesses, but Google's dominance in advertising couldn't occur without the product mix.
- throwaway729 10y ago
  > Google's dominance in advertising couldn't occur without the product mix. This is absolutely accurate. Google is what it is because google.com is the best search engine in the world and because GMail is the best web-based mail client -- free or otherwise.
  - rokhayakebe 10y ago
    free or otherwise. Correct, which is why many people have gmail for personal use and google apps gmail for professional. I can't use Outlook or Yahoo Mail; that's not due to a lack of trying.
    - lobster_johnson 10y ago
      There are better alternatives. I use Fastmail.com.
  - Roritharr 10y ago
    I'd take Zimbra over Gmail any day.
- bad_user 10y ago
  All of Google's products are complementary products that create lock-in. For instance both Chrome and Android have been created with the purpose of controlling the underlying platform that people use, in order for them to not be at the mercy of the other platform owners, like Apple or Microsoft. And it worked. This is very obvious to anybody with an interest in how microeconomics works. For example this is why open source can exist in a world where people need to struggle to put food on the table. It's basic knowledge: complementary goods and services are meant to increase demand for your cash cows. But alas good journalism is dead.
  - ronald_raygun 10y ago
    A good blog post on what youre talking about https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/06/12/strategy-letter-v/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/06/12/strategy-letter-v/
    - hackcrafter 10y ago
      On a side note, I'm glad to see Joel has re-themed his blog posts but kept them hosted at the same URLs. Many of these posts seem timeless and often very prescient. In fact, at the bottom of this one, he points out the strategic dead-end Sun was heading down with commoditizing software while also making/promoting Java that commoditized their hardware...
      - lobster_johnson 10y ago
        He recently moved to WordPress, after having used his own blogging tool for years: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/rip-citydesk/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/rip-citydesk/
    - xenadu02 10y ago
      He's got a great prescient paragraph at the bottom: > Sun is the loose cannon of the computer industry. Unable to see past their raging fear and loathing of Microsoft, they adopt strategies based on anger rather than self-interest. Sun’s two strategies are (a) make software a commodity by promoting and developing free software (Star Office, Linux, Apache, Gnome, etc), and (b) make hardware a commodity by promoting Java, with its bytecode architecture and WORA. OK, Sun, pop quiz: when the music stops, where are you going to sit down? Without proprietary advantages in hardware or software, you’re going to have to take the commodity price, which barely covers the cost of cheap factories in Guadalajara, not your cushy offices in Silicon Valley. Indeed Sun got eaten alive by commodity hardware while not having any viable strategy to make money on software.
- wnevets 10y ago
  exactly, with out those hobbies users like myself would be less "trapped" in the Google ecosystem.
- findjashua 10y ago
  "But without search, without Gmail, without Chrome, without Android, without the moonshots and all the "hobbies" Google's brand would wither" I'd argue it's less about branding, and more about creating an ecosystem.

> Google doesn't do what it does to be successful. It does it because it is successful. Those things aren't mutually exclusive and almost certainly are both true

inopinatus 10y ago

The most pointed quote in the article is “No one wants to face the reality that this is an advertising company with a bunch of hobbies.” But without search, without Gmail, without Chrome, without Android, without the moonshots and all the "hobbies" Google's brand would wither, and its access to data at massive scale would be crippled, and its access to eyeballs would be curtailed, and the talent would walk. Others have built advertising businesses, but Google's dominance in advertising couldn't occur without the product mix.

throwaway729 10y ago
> Google's dominance in advertising couldn't occur without the product mix. This is absolutely accurate. Google is what it is because google.com is the best search engine in the world and because GMail is the best web-based mail client -- free or otherwise.
- rokhayakebe 10y ago
  free or otherwise. Correct, which is why many people have gmail for personal use and google apps gmail for professional. I can't use Outlook or Yahoo Mail; that's not due to a lack of trying.
  - lobster_johnson 10y ago
    There are better alternatives. I use Fastmail.com.
- Roritharr 10y ago
  I'd take Zimbra over Gmail any day.
bad_user 10y ago
All of Google's products are complementary products that create lock-in. For instance both Chrome and Android have been created with the purpose of controlling the underlying platform that people use, in order for them to not be at the mercy of the other platform owners, like Apple or Microsoft. And it worked. This is very obvious to anybody with an interest in how microeconomics works. For example this is why open source can exist in a world where people need to struggle to put food on the table. It's basic knowledge: complementary goods and services are meant to increase demand for your cash cows. But alas good journalism is dead.
- ronald_raygun 10y ago
  A good blog post on what youre talking about https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/06/12/strategy-letter-v/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/06/12/strategy-letter-v/
  - hackcrafter 10y ago
    On a side note, I'm glad to see Joel has re-themed his blog posts but kept them hosted at the same URLs. Many of these posts seem timeless and often very prescient. In fact, at the bottom of this one, he points out the strategic dead-end Sun was heading down with commoditizing software while also making/promoting Java that commoditized their hardware...
    - lobster_johnson 10y ago
      He recently moved to WordPress, after having used his own blogging tool for years: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/rip-citydesk/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/rip-citydesk/
  - xenadu02 10y ago
    He's got a great prescient paragraph at the bottom: > Sun is the loose cannon of the computer industry. Unable to see past their raging fear and loathing of Microsoft, they adopt strategies based on anger rather than self-interest. Sun’s two strategies are (a) make software a commodity by promoting and developing free software (Star Office, Linux, Apache, Gnome, etc), and (b) make hardware a commodity by promoting Java, with its bytecode architecture and WORA. OK, Sun, pop quiz: when the music stops, where are you going to sit down? Without proprietary advantages in hardware or software, you’re going to have to take the commodity price, which barely covers the cost of cheap factories in Guadalajara, not your cushy offices in Silicon Valley. Indeed Sun got eaten alive by commodity hardware while not having any viable strategy to make money on software.
wnevets 10y ago
exactly, with out those hobbies users like myself would be less "trapped" in the Google ecosystem.
findjashua 10y ago
"But without search, without Gmail, without Chrome, without Android, without the moonshots and all the "hobbies" Google's brand would wither" I'd argue it's less about branding, and more about creating an ecosystem.